#412

Impressions: Wire is a British punk forefather band often name-checked in relationship to bands I enjoy (R.E.M., The Jam, The Futureheads, Devo, and the previously reviewed, Minutemen,) usually in reference to the start-stop dynamics and “angular” guitar. Somehow, I never bothered to listen to the source before. Today, I bother… “Reuters” opens with a slow riff and shouting vocal letting us know that the music will arty but aggressive. Picks up steam with “Field Day For The Sundays”…all 28 seconds of it. But then they throw a curve ball with the loping, funky “Three Girl Rhumba,” that one might recall Elastica later would use the riff from for their hit “Connection.” Like the Minutemen, they like to keep things short and very view songs seems to follow a traditional verse, chorus, verse structure…but the simple, sharp-edged guitar riffs keep the songs from getting too arty. The minimal lyrics give you enough to get you thinking, even though Colin Newman’s voice doesn’t really stand out, but before you can figure anything out, boom, the song is over. The album comes off as very nervy, in the way they jump around from idea to idea and arrangement to arrangement. When they do take their time, with “Pink Flag” they stretch the arrangement to beyond it’s breaking point. Just when a few songs started sounding a little too “1,2,3,4! PUNK ROCK,” the slow grinding, fuzz-box driven “Strange” comes in and sounds more like a ballsy T-Rex outtake. Although the waves of imitators have possibly dimmed it a little bit, this album had enough surprises and kept moving around enough to keep me involved.

Starred Songs: “Three Girl Rhumba,” “Surgeon’s Girl,” “Pink Flag,” “Strange,” “12XU” 
Sneaky Track: “Start To Move”
Should this album be on the list? Yes
Will you listen to this again? Yes

Verdict: Adventurous early art-punk record has been endlessly copied, but the short, bracing songs still excite and offer curve balls.

Rating: ★★★★1/4